It was discovered that 3DS sales account for 20 percent of all gaming hardware sales in the U.S. and Europe

Nintendo's CEO recently mentioned that its handheld 3DS currently isn't doing so hot in the United States and Europe.

Satoru Iwata, Nintendo CEO, recently led the company’s 72nd Annual General Meeting of Shareholders where the 3DS portable gaming system was discussed. According to Iwata, "momentum in the U.S. and Europe is currently weak."

It was discovered that 3DS sales account for 20 percent of all gaming hardware sales in the U.S. and Europe.

This probably isn't too surprising to those who have followed the 3DS' history. It was released in March 2011 and initially had poor sales. Nintendo blamed the lackluster lineup of titles for the unimpressive sales, and decided to slash the price of the 3DS from $249.99 to $169.99 in August 2011.

However, Nintendo posted its first annual loss ever in April 2012. The company reported an operating loss of 37.3 billion yen ($460.9 million USD) and a net loss of 43.2 billion yen ($532.5 million USD).

The company is currently trying to make a comeback with its new Wii U console, which will be released this year and features a controller with a 6.2-inch screen, an accelerometer, gyroscope, rumble support, microphone, speakers, stylus, sensor strip, and a front-facing camera. Nintendo is also looking to couple its Wii U console with its own social network called Miiverse.

In addition, Nintendo will soon release the 3DS XL, which is larger version of the 3DS, this month in Japan and next month in the U.S. for $199.

While Iwata reported weak 3DS sales in the U.S. and Europe at its Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, the company can at least take pride in the fact that 3DS sales are healthy in Japan. In fact, the 3DS accounts for 55 percent of all gaming hardware sales in Japan.

At least Sony is doing something sustainable and carving a niche for itself for hardcore portable gaming. Nintendo keeps releasing gimmicky devices that are less powerful than most cell phones and less versatile. If people stopped buying their crap hardware, we'd get Nintendo titles on Sony hardware and have the best of both worlds, but nooooooo...

Bansheex, I know you're a raving Sony fanboi, but let's get back to reality for a moment.

Sony offers NOTHING outside of what Microsoft already offers. MS has the most robust online community. Sony has very, very few blockbuster titles that MS doesn't have as well (or in some cases, alternatives which are arguably superior...i.e. forza vs. GT). If the PS3 didn't have blu-ray, no one would be buying it at all. Between the current 3 systems on the market, it's Sony that has the least tenable, most superfluous position. At least Nintendo has the virtue of branching out into a consumer market that was completely ignored and overlooked by MS and Sony.

I maintain that Nintendo must remain as a hardware manufacturer because of their impressive and staggering track-record for gaming innovation. Can you imagine where video gaming would be be if Nintendo hadn't branched out from playing-cards?

-Electronic games would have died in 1983-No one would remember what a light-gun is-The D-Pad would never have seen the light of day-The control stick would not be in widespread use-Shoulder buttons would not have come mainstream--if ever-Motion gaming would not have become viable and widespread-Rumble features would not be more than a rare gimmick-Handheld gaming would still be dominated by Tiger.

...and that's just the hardware. I don't need to go into detail about the software innovations they've pioneered. The point is, Nintendo as a hardware company makes sense--because they are the company pushing the envelope. Sure, there are occasional mis-steps, but overall Nintendo has made massive contributions to gaming that would not have been possible if someone else--someone more conservative--was controling hardware design/function.

For MS and Sony--collectively--"innovation" is only a faster GPU, 3D, and 1080p support. All of a sudden there's a "rush" to throw their "me-too" Move and Kinect options on the market. Whether you like motion controls or not, there is sufficint market-share to provoke this knee-jerk response from MS and Sony. The fact that both companies are being forced to adapt (or at least create the facade of doing so) is a testament to how much Nintendo is pushing the envelope.